Thugs assault women in Anambra

More than 200 women traders in Awka, Anambra State, stormed the Central Police Station (CPS) yesterday to protest what they called “harassment and intimidation by thugs” believed to be government agents.

Some of the women were beaten up by the thugs, following their inability to pay the stipulated N3,000 government tax imposed on them at the market.

But the Commissioner for Information, Joe Martins Uzodike, said: “Government does not control thugs and we do not intend to have any in the state.”

He said the government does not run markets, adding that what the government is interested in is people paying their taxes.

“If the women are saying that thugs are harassing them, the onus is on the police to investigate the claim,” Uzodike said

One of the women leaders, Mrs. Praise Moneke, said the harassment and intimidation by some boys had become unbearable, which forced them to move to the police station.

At the Eke-Market yesterday, some 20 thugs were seen harrassing the women and throwing away their goods.

Some of the thugs were parading the market with weapons, including guns, machetes, axes and empty bottles.

At the central police station, the women were told to appoint 10 persons to meet with the Commissioner of Police, Bala Nasarawa, today.